China's lottery sales up 10.5% in March

BEIJING -- China's lottery ticket sales reached 32.94 billion yuan (about $4.98 billion) in March, up 10.5 percent year-on-year, data from the Ministry of Finance showed.

Sales of lottery tickets to support the welfare system totaled 13.31 billion yuan in March, up 21.6 percent year-on-year.

Lottery tickets sold to support the sports industry stood at 19.63 billion yuan, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry.

In the first three months, lottery sales neared 86.25 billion yuan, up 2 percent year-on-year. In breakdown, welfare lottery sales stood at 36.67 billion yuan and sports lottery sales totaled 49.57 billion yuan.

Under China's lottery management rules, funds raised from ticket sales are used for administrative expenses, public welfare projects, and to fund prizes.